A few weeks ago, I mentioned to you how a friend of mine said she would never be happy with her body and how utterly sad I was, and still am, for her. Well, after discussing my personal training services with a few other friends who asked me about it, one of them said to me: “I don’t work out; that must make you mad.”
And then she stood there and waited for my reaction. As if I was supposed to explode in an angry tirade on her, confirming her assumption of my emotions.
Now, yes, while I did, and do, have many emotions on this comment, anger is not one of them. Rather, I feel:
Sad that you’ll never know how far you can truly push yourself. How fast and strong your body can be and how completely liberating and empowering those two things can feel.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aN7lt0CYwHg
Frustrated that you can make such a matter-of-fact statement with so little thought for how it will impact you and more thought on it impacts me.
Worried that your health will decline faster than you would hope. That you’ll develop osteoporosis, diabetes, heart disease, and hypertension if you don’t move more.
Scared that you’ll learn the mental, physical, and emotional benefits of exercise late in life, when it is possibly too late, or when you’ll possibly regret not having tried it earlier.
Disappointed that your idea of what a workout is seems to be daunting when a “workout” can be as simple as fast walking for 10 minutes or dancing it out to a short playlist.
Hopeful that you’ll find a way to move that makes you happy, keeps you healthy, and makes you feel good.
Happy that you’re thinking about how your actions might affect others and maybe those others (kids, spouses, friends) will show you the importance of being as healthy as possible and spark you to make a change.
But you see, anger is not on this list. Do your body good, my friends, workout. Whatever that means to you. Find what you enjoy and get up and do it. Your body, mind, and soul will thank you for it.
RQ: What’s your favorite way to move?
I’m Brooke Selb, a Personal Trainer and Health Coach specializing in helping busy moms and moms to be to easily juggle mom life with family friendly recipes, and easy exercise routines to help you achieve your fitness goals that fit in with your already busy life with sound nutritional advice.
I love running, dancing, and playing with my girls and I always feel like a proud momma when they want to workout with me. I try to emphasize that since I sit all day at work I need to get up and move while I’m at home because it makes me happy and a happy momma means a happy family! While yes, I’ve been working on the weight thing (for my personal health and mental benefits) I try to emphasize the benefits of being strong not skinny.
Brooke – I love this post! Thank you for sharing! What a great message! Have you seen this commercial – https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zzbjEMaDjrk ?? Love it!
Not all my friends “workout,” but they stay active. It does bother me (makes me raise an eyebrow) when they don’t workout, but it doesn’t make me mad. I feel your emotions towards them too. Like, why not?
And working out doesn’t have to be a sweat fest, but a similar 20 minute walk would suffice. This particular person didn’t do much of anything.